Day One of Christ Church Greenwich Choir Trip 2026
Written by Eric S. Brenner, Music Administrator

Thanks so much to everyone for helping us get off to such a smooth start (and fifteen minutes ahead of schedule!).

We made excellent time to JFK, received pretty spectacular service at group check-in, made it through security and to our gate in plenty of time, sang for a nice lady who saw our choir shirts, watched a little futball (ten goals?!), switched gates, slight delay for boarding...

...And as we approached the gate attendants, it was hard not to notice the sky had darkened to a rather lovely and ominous purple gray. We took our seats, giddy to have gotten out just in time, taxied a bit, and then the announcements began - always too loud, thanking us for our patience (which I've always found a bit presumptuous), and promising...more announcements...soon.

Somewhat less than four hours later those of us who were still awake voiced a hearty & not-at-all-sarcastic cheer as we finally lifted off.

And here again, I want to thank everyone for being and nurturing the sort of humans who could weather this frustrating & exhausting time with such grace, humor, patience, & kindness.

(On a personal note, we landed at just after 0600 est, which by my (patently incorrect) calculation, meant we were over an hour AHEAD of schedule - because, what even is time?)

Now we're on the bus to York, with an eta of approximately supper time & tentative plans for a scavenger hunt & a world cup viewing party. The weather is absolutely lovely (though the plants clearly need some watering), the kids are having a ball, & I'm really quite curious to see what time we all fall asleep tonight - & wake up in the morning.

Church Greenwich Choir Trip 2026
Written by Rev. Elly Withers Kumar, Assistant Rector

Our daily walk to the York Minster to sing at evensong is lovely! We are staying at the Mount School about one mile from the cathedral. Group photo outside of the York Minster! Today the youth sang evensong to a packed audience in the choir loft. The York Minster is the tallest building in York. From the top tower you can see the entire city.

Day 1 & 2 (7/19-7/20)
Featuring Tatiana Busch

On Sunday morning, we got off the plane at London Heathrow after it was delayed for four hours the night before, as the plane waited on the tarmac for the weather to clear up the whole time. Tatiana won a bet for one pound with Drew E. that the plane would take off after 11 P.M., since we continued waiting for what felt like forever (she did actually get the money). The plane ride felt boring to most, and Tatiana, like others, only slept for 30 minutes. She asserts that the best part of the tour so far was getting off the plane. She also finally felt “free” after the 4 hour bus ride to the Mount School in York, which she only enjoyed because she was able to talk to everyone. For dinner that night, we had hotdogs, fries, and ice cream, but Tatiana did not find it very appetizing, because apparently in England, hot dogs actually taste like sausages. After dinner, many choristers looked forward to taking a hot shower and washing away the gross feeling of the plane. No one felt excited anymore when the only water coming out of the showers was in droplets, if they were lucky to have any at all. Toilets wouldn't flush and water wasn't coming out of showerheads, and that's when we realized that the whole area was having trouble running water. Some choristers justifiably described their shower as the worst they have ever taken. Once people were able to wash themselves in sinks that still worked, a majority of the choir gathered to root for Spain in the World Cup (well, everyone except Luke). Unfortunately, England had already lost in the quarter finals, which was obviously saddening to all of us. But, they did win the third place game against France, which a lot of us watched in the airport the night before. Tatiana, however, was too tired to watch the final game, and instead asked Colleen who won the next morning. Even with a rough start on the trip to England and many plumbing issues, our choristers held a positive attitude and couldn't wait to start singing the next day!

Everyone woke up on Monday to a breakfast prepared in the dining hall, including toast and beans (what a traditional English breakfast!). Tatiana personally enjoyed the hash browns, and that was when she realized that a high percentage of meals here contained potatoes, which was proven again later that day at dinner. We started off our first rehearsal of the tour, which Tatiana described as enjoyable, although it felt long and her feet began to hurt, which would not be the first time. After lunch and a few hours of rehearsal, we had our first walk to York Minster, and arrived early to receive a safety briefing. Tatiana's feet continued to hurt after the walk, understandably. Arriving at York Minster, the structure was bigger than she thought it would be, and of course it was cool and “medieval looking”. Somehow, Tatiana impressively remembered a fun fact that it was built over the span of around 250 years, and she found it interesting that it took such a long time to build the church. We had a couple rehearsals in the choir room at the Minster, followed by a break before the service. Tatiana, presumably like many other choristers, liked singing evensong in York way better than back in Greenwich. The choir sounded amazing at the service, even for being jetlagged and exhausted. Tatiana personally enjoyed singing "God So Loved the World” the most out of all the pieces we sang tonight. The choir deservedly received many compliments from strangers after evensong. After the walk back from the Minster, everyone enjoyed a well earned dinner, which did in fact include potatoes, as Tatiana guessed. We then had some choir bonding time, where Josh led a luck based game of "Left, Right, Center", and Tatiana ended up winning third place! Somehow, Josh ended up winning the whole game, which we bet was rigged… yikes. After our full first day in York with hours of rehearsals and a successful evensong, our choristers were ready for bed and excited to wake up tomorrow for another day in England.

Day 1 & 2
Written by Eric S. Brenner, Music Administrator

Speaking of plants needing water, towards the end of day one (which, of course, was actually two days, because again, time..), at first we thought we'd just over-taxed the system by showering all at once, but a little digging revealed a neighborhood-wide outage due (at least in part?) to the resources needed to battle a nearby wildfire. The outage was resolved within the hour and once again, I was so impressed and grateful for how everyone kept calm and carried on. Then a pretty big handful of brave and sleepy souls stayed up to watch the world cup final and while at least one of us was unhappy with the result, I think we all agreed that Justin Bieber is a very talented and attractive man.

Which brings us to today. Or tomorrow. Our first full day here in York Minster, our third day of this journey, which shall be known hereafter as Day Two.

We started with a proper Full-English Breakfast with toast, eggs, sausage, ham, potatoes, mushrooms, baked beans, tea - everything a growing choir needs - and then our first rehearsal with the choristers held right here at the Mount school. After lunch, we had a lovely walk over to the Minster, more rehearsal in that magnificent space, and then our first Evensong of the tour (sadly, no pics/video permitted during services, but we'll be sending rehearsal footage along the way & livestream is available for our services on Sunday, but not on weekdays).

Which is why you'll have to take my word for it when I tell you the choir (& choir direction, & organ-playing) was absolutely spectacular! It was a special treat for me to just sit and watch and listen (I'll join in the singing later in the week). We sometimes joke about "This is what we trained for" moments, but this was exactly that, and I couldn't be more proud - or more excited about the days to come.

I've started up a WhatsApp group which a number of you have joined - I'll post there as I'm able and I can certainly answer messages I receive from you (though consider sending to me directly rather than to the whole group). Elly Kumar has also created a shared folder for all pics & videos - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1CQkAYzzfrHCOU46BJ5s3DOi9VU7H0_25?usp=drive_link

I'll leave it there for now as it's bedtime (though still light out at 9:45pm local time), with thanks again for your patience, your care, your trust, your support, & your children.

Day 3 (7/21)
Courtesy of Will Wade

Today we all woke up and came downstairs to fried eggs, hashbrowns, and a toast machine made to order by none other than the legendary Josh Barton. Then, it was off to rehearsal number one at 10 where Mr. Hitel asked us about our energy levels which ranged quite literally from 2 to 9 out of 10. Will was the 9 out of 10. We rehearsed so much music but Will said it felt short (which I think means he had a good time). Then at twelve we moved to lunch which was sandwiches, chips, fruit, and a candy bar (this lunch set up looks to be the same for the rest of the week). One of which was our “favorite”, the cheese and pickle sandwich… After lunch, we walked to the Minster to rehearse again. When we asked Will what the first thing that he saw when he entered the church was, he said "the ground”. Gotta love that enthusiasm right. Will's favorite part of the day, however, was the break between our rehearsals at the Minster when he saw his mom and got vanilla ice cream. He also ate some takis, which was why his tongue was blue during the service; thank god the archbishop wasn't there for evensong… Will also told us that his favorite piece we sang was “O God Thou Art My God”. Congrats to Drew E., Sadie, and Brooklyn on their fabulous solos, and truly a great job to everyone for another incredible day of singing! After the service, we walked through the narrow streets and Will was stoked to walk with his mom and tell her about the day. At one point during the day, he also went to a soap shop but got a headache because of the smell and didn't like it. He feels better now though, don't worry. After dinner, which was chili and donuts, the seniors, George, Gianna, and Drew, told everyone about choir tour traditions, like skit night and writing this blog! Then, we broke off to start planning for our skits, and I can promise you they will be exciting and funny as always! We ended up playing soccer outside and had a run around which finished all of our energy, per Will's words, and it was definitely time for bed. Another marvelous day in York: the music only gets better, and we can't be more excited to do it again tomorrow.

Love and miss you all,
The Christ Church Choir

Day 4 (7/22)
Starring Isabel Boston

On Wednesday, choristers woke up for yet another day of singing. Isabel stayed up late the night before, presumably like many other children, and was tired in the morning. She and the rest of the choir got woken up by Elly singing a wake up song for all, since of course, no one has a phone to set an alarm for themselves. We had to have a quick breakfast because of a scheduled tour of York Minster soon after. On the walk to the Minster, we took a detour by walking on a bridge that crosses the town, which Isabel didn't really appreciate because she's scared of heights. Everyone, including Isabel, obviously thought that the tour of the Minster was super cool, as we saw many statues, tombs, and learned many interesting facts. The tour was interactive and Isabel had to pretend to be a cross with her body. She noted that all stained glass windows are different and unique, and was shocked to see how big they are. Isabel also learned about a statue that was made by an artist who disliked the king, so he dressed the statue in improper clothes, which was frowned upon. After the tour, it was off to more rehearsals to prepare for the night's evensong. Isabel says that rehearsals are long, as would any kid after standing for 6 hours.

She enjoys, though, getting ice cream and hanging out with her friends during breaks, and her and other choristers even spent some time going to a fudge store today, which I am extremely jealous of. A lot of us have been able to visit the York Minster gift shop as well, where Isabel and her friends got matching cross necklaces. Isabel thought that the service went well and enjoyed singing Dr. Moore's piece, “O Filii et Filiae". The whole choir was thrilled to sing his piece, and even have Dr. Moore himself conduct it! After evensong, the choir attended a reception with some snacks and drinks, and Isabel especially liked the punch. We returned to the Mount School for dinner, which was lasagna, pesto pasta, and garlic bread. As usual, the cookies were especially good, which Isabel agreed with. The choristers got to enjoy some free time once they finished dinner. Others, however, Isabel's room specifically, had to organize and clean their room. Shockingly, that's what happens when three little girls spend multiple nights together. A lot of us were tired after the long day of singing and walking, rightfully so, and many ended up in bed early, thankfully for the chaperones, as they wouldn't be tired the next morning. The choir, once again, had another successful day of singing, and everyone was excited for an off-day the next day.

Day 5 (7/23)
Starring Nolan Diana

Today was our first day with Rev. Tim and also our first day off! Well, from singing that is, since a day off really just means even more walking. We started off with another great breakfast to prepare us for the day and then we headed off in groups to two museums. Some of us went to the Viking Museum, and the others went with Mr. Vaughn to the National Railway Museum. Nolan and I both went to the National Railway Museum, so we will focus more on that. The museum featured many massive steam engines, old train cars, and models. Upon arrival, Nolan's first word was "wow,” due to the sheer amount of trains and how large they were compared to him. Also, he learned that trains actually hurt Britain's economy greatly. Finally, his favorite train was the Mallard which holds the record as the fastest steam engine which he and I got to go inside to see what he called “an interesting operating system.” His favorite aspect of the train, however, was its color, blue, his favorite color.

Then, after lunch, we all walked to the York Castle Museum. There, Nolan loved learning about World War I and how the war greatly affected local lives and times in York. The museum, however, also featured many life-size medieval sets constructed into two prisons, one for men and the other for women. If you are ever here, we recommend you check it out! Then, Josh split everybody up into groups for a scavenger hunt across York. Nolan said this activity was the day's highlight, as he learned much about York's history as we searched for bunny statues, Yorkshire Terriers, and lions on the city walls. His low-light, however, was all of the walking, which was roughly 7.5 miles. Then we had dinner which featured Nolan's favorite meal of the day: curry chicken which was "hot but worth it”. At the end of the day, like every one of us, he felt tired and “fatigued,” but is still ready and excited for tomorrow when we get back to the choir stalls. For some reason, however, all of the younger kids are still running around the school as I slowly drift off to sleep. He can't wait to go to Durham on Monday and explore another famous gothic cathedral! Can't wait to see you all!

Love,
The Christ Church Choir

Choir Trip 2026 Christ Church Greenwich